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On Fridays we faff around.
 
Following an initiative influenced by enterprising companies such as 3M, Google and Unity technologies, we have implemented a new team initiative called Fridays are For Fun (FAFF).  The term was borrowed from Unity, whose brilliant product (Unity3D) we also use.
 
Basically what this means is that the team (minus management) come up with their own game idea, manage and develop it themselves, and on launch they share directly in a percentage of the profit.
 
There are some rules (but not many):

• Strictly Friday afternoon only (at this stage)
• Develop a commercial game
• Involve the whole team
• 6-month time limit
• Self managed using scrum/agile methodology
• Develop and follow a game development process
• Learn a new skill or technology
• Any costs need to be recovered before profit royalties are paid

What do the staff get out of this?  They get to spend the end of the week on a project they own, drive it's direction, and eventually share in the profits.  The team learn new skills and perhaps work with technologies they normally wouldn't during a normal work day.
 
What does Pixelthis get out of this?  We get games added to our portfolio, we expand our team skill set, we improve our game development process, and we make the team more aware of the financial side of developing a game  - and we of course end up with a happier team!
 
At the moment this is a Friday afternoon thing (2pm to 5pm), but depending on the success of this venture we may look to change this in the future.
 
What is the first FAFF project? I hear it involves a certain mobile operating system developed by Google...